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Maestro Fresh Wes' Backbone

Attic

Long before Drake became the face of Canadian hip-hop, Toronto rapper Maestro Fresh Wes became a pop star with the old-school classic "Let Your Backbone Slide." This helped his debut Black Tie Affair sell 190,000 copies and remain Canada’s top-selling rap record right up until, well, Drake. It also helped a generation of Canadians realize that their homegrown musicians could stand up with the best of their American cousins, even in such a U.S.-centric genre as hip-hop.